Work. Mama. Life Interview Dr Ali Young

Motherhood is a journey through the chaos and the calm, the joy and frustration, the overwhelm and the total fun. For all women, motherhood is a huge shift in your identity and your plans for your future. But as mums juggle the health of their kids, home and work lives, as well as their relationships, they often put themselves last, resulting in physical and emotional burnout. Something needs to change.

In the new book, Work. Mama. Life., health and motherhood strategist Ali Young has written an empowering and practical guide for mums looking to achieve a better balance, allowing you to experience the joys of motherhood without losing yourself.

Through a combination of evidence-based research, first-hand mothering experience, and easy-to-follow exercises, Ali gently guides you to help rediscover your joy, self and health in the face of intense challenges working motherhood brings. Readers learn how to:

• Understand matrescience and your 'mother brain'
• Identify early signs of stress and burnout
• Find and embrace your village
• Reinvigorate yourself and ditch fatigue
• Bring lightness and brightness to yourself and others

Filled with relatable advice from one mum to another, Work. Mama. Life. shows how you can reclaim your health and happiness as a parent and thrive throughout your motherhood journey.

About the author
Dr Ali Young (Chiropractor) is an accomplished Chiropractor in private practice, an entrepreneur, and a mother with over 19 years' clinical and business experience. She works passionately with mothers and children to support their vitality and health choices in her practice and online.

Work. Mama. Life
Dr Ali Young
ISBN: 9780730396567
RRP: $29.95

Interview with Dr Ali Young

Question: What originally inspired the idea of Work Mama Life?

Dr Ali Young: The idea of Work Mama Life came from a combination of three things. Initially, working in private practice with 1000's of mum's over the last nearly 20 years, there were increasing themes of burnout and stress emerging. Then I began an online community and courses where we dove deep into this, and finally, the podcast was so well received that I thought I really need to disseminate this information into a book.

Question: What research did you do, prior to writing Work Mama Life?

Dr Ali Young: Before taking pen to paper for Work.Mama.Life. I undertook a Certification in Motherhood Studies with Dr Sophie Brock, designed for practitioners who work in the mother space to ensure they understand the sociology and framing of motherhood in our society. I also completed extensive research into stress, female stress, hormone imbalance and postural implications on stress in women. Finally, I researched the societal patternings of women in the workplace, as the increase in participation without a concurrent increase in support is what is driving the health challenges we are seeing in working mum's.


Question: What's the main message you hope readers take from Work Mama Life?

Dr Ali Young: My hope is that it empowers working mum's to choose their own adventures. To arm them with enough knowledge that they can choose what health looks like for them. What the balance of work and family looks like for them. And that they can choose how they want to show up – and how to nurture their sense of self in this big wide world. I want this book to represent their own personal cheerleader squad, to know that there is someone on their side cheering them on all the way!


Question: Did you learn anything about yourself, whilst writing Work Mama Life?

Dr Ali Young: I absolutely did!! The first part of the book, Work, dives into my motherhood and working history, and how it led me to my burnout state. Writing this section of the book made me feel tired and proud all at once, but the really big learning for me was in the form of the knowledge that I had researched and formed over my healing journey, and how writing it down made it all real. I learn that whilst I'm not infallible, I definitely have my own back, and I really hope to inspire other women to know how to have their own back too.


Question: Can you share some tips with us featured in the book?

Dr Ali Young: The main tips are that there is nobody who has balance across the 5 Pillars of Health, but having knowledge, awareness and community support is key. The 5 key pillars that I see to help mum's regain their health and sense of self are:

• Nourishment – remembering to eat, and choose wholefoods with enough proteins is vital for mum's. • Movement – it doesn't have to be a crazy HIIT class, in fact if you are stressed this could be worse for you. Gentle daily movement really does help.
• Thinking like a calm mum. Nobody wants to be told to calm down, but finding pockets of calm in your day can drastically impact your health.
• Sleep – yes, turn off your screen 30 minutes before bed, and make that bedtime a little earlier. It really is helpful.
• Connect – phone a friend, grab a coffee/walk/wine and connect again. We are wired for connection, and it is so vital to our health!


Question: What advice do you have for aspiring writers or artists?

Dr Ali Young: I had this crazy idea that festered away for years, and finally came to fruition with a lot of encouragement and an opportunity I couldn't say no to. I always had a huge amount of imposter syndrome, and to have the chance to have my work taken seriously on such a large scale was magic. Listen to your inner dialogue, trust that intuition. You're ideas are valuable, share them with the world.


Question: What or who inspired your love of reading/writing?

Dr Ali Young: My mum is definitely the one who inspired my love of both reading and writing. She always was reading, and when I showed an interest in writing when I was at school was wholly supportive of this too.


Question: What's next, for you?

Dr Ali Young: After launching the book for Mothers Day in 2022, I've realised that mum's want the space to create community and travel through these health choices together. I am now focusing on supporting mums through my online platforms. In my Work.Mama.Life.Lounge – which is my online community with monthly masterclasses and support from me. And also through my 8 week signature course, the Working Mama Reset. This is where we dive deeply into the information in the book, make it applicable for yourself, and allow a guided and supported health and self change to occur. You can find out more info at www.draliyoung.com


Interview by Gwen van Montfort